The Way We Are and the Way We Were
by sarahway
Summary: One thing that wasn't normal was the current fact that I was driving around the United States in my best friend’s blue Jeep, trying to escape my best friend’s brother who was currently obsessed with killing me and my other best friend. AH, Sexual Content
1. Preface

The Way We Are The Way We Were Prolouge

Of all the things I've done in my life, I never thought that running away from a serial killer would become one of them.

I mean, I'd coached little league for my five year old cousin as a young teen who needed the cash, played the Cello throughout high school until my senior year, worked in my grandfathers antique shop for a few months for some extra cash, not even caring that he paid me more than anyone else that worked in the adorable vintage shop, just because I was his favorite grand-daughter, went to college in Phoenix with my two best friends, lost my virginity on the floor of an abandoned home in the country when I was seventeen...

I'd lived a normal life I guess.

I'd done all the normal things a normal person does to live up to the title of, well...

Normal.

But one thing that wasn't normal, was the current fact that I was driving around the United States in my best friend's blue Jeep, trying to escape my best friend's brother who was currently obsessed with the fact of killing me and my other best friend, simply becuase we discovered the deadly secret he was trying to so hard to hide.

Normal huh?

I'm the goddamned definition of normal…


	2. Chapter 1

**The Way We Are and the Way We Were Chapter One**

I smiled to myself as I pressed the button on the little remote attached to Jasper's car keys, locking the deep blue Jeep before reaching down and grabbing the six pack of Smirnoff's I had set down on the sidewalk, thinking about how excited Emmett was going to be when he saw that I had bought him his favorite drink.

I quickly made my way up to the doorstep, carrying the drinks tightly so that my weak hands wouldn't drop them all over the clean pavement outside Emmett Cullen's house; stumbling over the single cement step upwards leading up to the large, front oak door of the Cullen's home.

The weather was dull.

Grey.

Damp.

Depressing.

Like it always was in Forks when I lived there during a time that seemed so long ago.

But it wasn't as bad as I remembered Forks usually being. All I needed that day was my light sweater in one of my favorite colors, dark navy blue, and I was set for the quick drive to the only liquor store in town.

I was surprised that I even owned a sweater anymore, since all I really wore in Phoenix were shorts and wife beaters, or simply any type of light clothing that would help defend myself against the hot Arizona sun. But I was in Forks for the entire summer, as were Jasper and Emmett, so I had to just suck it up and head to Port Angeles in search of some jeans and sweaters.

But back to Emmett and Jasper.

Emmett and Jasper were the two people on Earth that I was closest to; could tell absolutely everything to, all of us being the best of friends since high school.

We'd met sometime around freshman year in high school in our gym class. All three of us had been put on the same baseball team, and we were pretty much the only three people there that knew how to play the damn game.

All three of us had started spending time together after that. Sometimes going to the local Foster's Freeze, or going bowling at midnight so that we could watch all of the glowing disco balls and colorful strobe lights hitting the walls surrounding us with enthusiasm. Other nights we would just go to one another's houses to just sit around and watch movies together on the couch.

To be honest, we were all much more than just friends.

We were a family.

I quickly opened the large oak door, not even bothering to knock since I had learned over the years that I didn't have to, juggling the six pack of alcoholic drinks in one hand and Jasper's car keys in the other.

"Hello?" I called out in a chipper tone as I walked into the living room, the place that I was in just moments before I had been forced to go out to the local liquor store to buy everyone drinks for the big football game previously recorded, thanks to the Cullen's new Tivo.

Like always, I don't give a hot damn about football, but as long as I could be surrounded by my two favorite people in the world, I was just dandy with watching forty or fifty attractive, sweaty men wearing spandex tackling each other.

"In here!" I heard Emmett's thunderous voice boom from the kitchen. I smiled as I quickly walked towards the kitchen, but not before shutting the door behind me and removing my white tennis shoes, not wanting to ruin the expensive Persian rugs that Carlisle, Emmett's father and basically my adopted father, had gone over-seas to purchase himself.

It wasn't much of a surprise that Emmett was very privileged and wealthy, thanks to his MD Dad and a big fat trust fund.

But surprisingly Emmett was a hard worker in basically everything he did. Whether it was the academics he was trying to finish up before he began his career in athletics, or if it was a girl he was trying to pursue. Emmett was a big, buff, dedicated guy.

The Cullen home was ridiculously huge and beautifully decorated; at least four times the size of my shoebox of an apartment that only I, a recent college graduate, could afford. The fact that my two huge best friends decide to practically live there more than I myself doesn't make it seem any bigger.

The Cullen home was 3 stories high, as unreal as that sounds, built on over three acres of land with a field like backyard that seemed endless, beautiful hardwood floors, multiple rooms that I've stopped bothering to try and count, all of them beautifully decorated with only the finest furniture the world could possibly offer, and a large basement that was dubbed the game room when we were sixteen, complete with a large fridge, a couch, a foosball and pool table, a flat screen complete with tons of video games and DVD's, and a vintage pinball machine.

So basically, it was big, it was expensive, it was the house I pretty much grew up in, and it was Italian.

_That's amore`._

My sock covered feet made contact with the soft, yet firm, feeling of the hardwood floors of the hallway and part of the living room as I quickly made my way towards the kitchen. Upon entering, my brown eyes trailed over towards the granite counter of the large, _expensive_ looking kitchen, which my two friends were currently perched upon.

Jasper's attractive face was the first one that I made contact with since he craned his neck backwards to get a good look at me.

Well, either me or the booze in my hands, but still.

He sent me a soft smile as Emmett quickly hopped off of the table, not even bothering to say hello, or even look at me for that matter, before immediately searching my form for the alcohol I was forced to go out and buy.

"All right!" he yelled snatching the Smirnoff's from my hand, still not even looking at my eyes, clearly excited to see his favorite drink in my hands.

I rolled my eyes as Emmett made carrying the slightly heavy drinks easy, whilst my scrawny hands made it seem like they were fighting a Civil War called Smirnoff.

"Smirnoff, only for the smallest dick in Forks, right from the bottom of my heart," I said sarcastically as I watched him place the six pack of alcoholic drinks onto the sensitive counter top, only before grabbing a stray steak knife that was lazily thrown onto the counter by someone, most likely Jasper or Emmett, and cutting the box open violently in a haste for the drinks.

I watched his back from underneath his white wife beater, the large, defined muscles moving around underneath his skin in a distinct pattern.

Jasper scoffed, obviously noticing me watching the slightly threatening muscles in Emmett's back.

"Bella, don't be jealous just because you don't have sexy muscles like ours," Jasper challenged, making me scoff right back at him.

"Shut up, I'm way more buff than you! Look at these muscles," I joked, quickly taking off my blue sweater to reveal my black deep v-neck shirt, raising my arms up and flexing the non-existent muscles of my upper arms.

Jasper rolled his eyes. Emmett simply continued his violent retrieval of the drinks from the cardboard they were currently locked inside of.

Jasper hopped off the counter to walk over towards me, only before grabbing my arm and squeezing the skin I was flexing.

I was a broken piece of spaghetti noodle compared to the two of them.

Like the soggy broken pieces that are stuck to the bottom of a boiling pot of pasta once you drain it.

But I certainly wasn't going to lie.

Jasper Hale and Emmett Cullen were both absolutely stunning.

Gorgeous.

Beautiful.

Greek Gods.

_Really_ hot if you wanna' go the teenage girl route.

But they were_ my _really hot, gorgeous, beautiful, Greek Gods.

Spending our awkward teen years together I think was what brought us closer together, and attending college together just put the icing on the cake.

As a teen, I was blessed with frizzy hair, a flat chest, acne, an extreme amount of baby fat, clumsiness, and a mouthful of obnoxious braces.

Jasper and Emmett didn't exactly have the same problems as me, or any I guess.

I guess both having extremely beautiful parents helps.

_A lot._

They didn't exactly start their high school careers with the ridiculous muscles they have now and whatnot, but they didn't have any issues with their hair. They both had clear skin, no baby fat thanks to all the sports they played, and naturally straight teeth.

But the main question that was asked throughout high school was, _"What the hell did the two hottest guys in Forks, Washington see in the awkward, frizzy haired, flat chested, acne proned, fat, brace-face girl at Forks High School?"_

And that's the same question I asked myself after gym class that day when the two of them had asked me if I wanted to meet up with them at Foster's Freeze that evening for ice-cream sundaes on Emmett.

It was right then that I became one of the boys.

And I'm not just talking about my looks in those days.

We'd all gotten so close over the next two and a half years.

Vacations together, camp-outs (with my father's protests of course), skinny dipping in the local lake on one of the only days of the year it was sunny outside, birthdays, movie nights, family dinners, going to the water park a few towns over, despite the ridiculous cold weather...

The rest is ancient, high school history.

But finally, by the summer of our junior year, I had finally gone from a dirty old weed to a graceful, sweet smelling flower.

While my boys were off to the local country club's gym all summer, building the bodies that could practically put celebrity body-builders of America to hot heap of shame, I was off to Southern California to go help out at the cabin resort in Lake Tahoe that my aunt Susan and uncle Joseph owned and opened a few times that year, summer being one of the most popular times for campers since Lake Tahoe was the hottest during the summer.

The woods obviously must've had some type of an effect on... Well...

Every flaw on my body.

Working at the cabin resort, (its real name being Mesa Oaks Resort) which involved babysitting most of the wild children staying at the camp while the parents went on random canoe rides and mountain climbing and whatnot, made me lose the excess baby fat I had kept throughout my childhood.

I never thought that I'd thank all those toddlers for running away from me and forcing me to play countless games of tag where I was always the one who was _'it'._

I'd also discovered frizz tamer and acne creams during my stay at Mesa Oaks Resort, thanks to my older cousin Theresa who knew everything about everything in the beauty product world that I'd never paid attention to before my summer at the resort.

And to top off my imaginary internship in the world of beauty and grace, three weeks before school began, I was finally able to get my horrendous braces removed after two and a half _long _years of having the annoying metal practically cemented onto my teeth, _**and**_... here it comes...

My boobs decided to grow in as well.

To a size I, and a few other male camp counselors liked.

So basically, my body decided to hit puberty when everyone else was fully... err…Blossomed.

I had also dropped band, and my cello.

Something that had been a piece of me for such a large portion of my life…

For good.

And I proved that point on the first day of senior year when I walked those outdoor halls on that surprisingly sunny day right before first period at Forks High School, flaunting my bold zebra leggings and my black cardigan, my new bangs right in their correct place on my forehead, my new, California tan that was very visible since everyone in Forks was pale white, (except for Lauren Mallory who'd decided to invest in a ridiculous spray tan that summer) and my tan colored boots that stopped at my ankles that made a bold statement as well.

As if my new and improved look didn't already make a bold statement itself.

I looked a lot better than before, and I knew it.

But there was one thing that kind of put a bit of a damper on my high school career, besides the endless Forks showers.

I had always been disliked by girls in high school.

Not because I was mean.

Not because I was a man stealer.

Not because I was a gossiper.

But simply because I was closest to Emmett and Jasper.

They were the two guys that everyone wanted, and I'm not exaggerating.

I was their confidant. Their rock I guess.

I was there for them, and they were there for me.

Obviously people at our high school didn't exactly approve of that, or even tried to understand it.

That was just how it worked during our eight years of friendship. That was what we wanted and what we loved.

"More like look at the pudge stuck on your arm, Bell," he said squeezing my arm tightly with his firm grip. I slapped his fingers away as I gazed up into his hazel, almost gold colored eyes.

I feigned mock shock for a moment.

"Shut up," I grumbled, fighting back my smile while pretending to be sad as I pushed passed him to get one of the bottles of Smirnoff that Emmett had unloaded from the carton he had brutally mutilated with the steak knife.

He laughed breathlessly as I walked to the very front of the counter and hopped up next to Emmett, who had already cracked two open, and just about to pop open another one for Jasper.

Emmett handed it to me, and then handed Jasper his.

"To college," he grumbled, nodding his drink towards us before putting the bottle to his lips and chugging down the clear liquid.

I smiled softly at the look of the two of them chugging down the drinks as I put the bottle to my lips and let the cold liquid gently fill my mouth and slowly glide down my throat. The usual burn of the alcohol was there, but it was soon replaced by the sweet taste of the Smirnoff.

"Thanks Belly," Emmett said nodding towards me and ruffling my hair gently. I smiled at the nickname.

The nickname I used to hate, but quickly came to love.

"No problem. But can you believe that I didn't get carded?" I asked them, suddenly remembering that the liquor store clerk hadn't asked for any identification indicating that I was over the age of twenty one or not, and how surprised I was.

Jasper snorted as they both walked towards the living room, me trailing behind them slowly.

"I'm sure your laugh lines were enough to prove you were older than twenty one," Emmett joked collapsing onto the expensive plush couch on the living room, reaching for the plasma screen's remote control to turn it on.

I slapped his chest as I plopped down onto his left, knowing that I didn't have any laugh lines just yet.

_At least... I don't think I do..._

"Shut it, Cullen," I mumbled smiling as Jasper snatched the remote from Emmett's hands to go to the channel currently playing some college football game.

I was only twenty three years old dammet. I didn't have any laugh lines.

"I don't have anything except bigger muscles than you two idiots," I retorted jokingly, looking at the now glowing screen that was illuminated with the pictures of a recorded version of yesterdays Florida Gator game.

Emmett laughed sarcastically before tapping my nose.

"Yeah, sure you do," Emmett said rolling his eyes. I scoffed at him.

"I don't have any laugh lines. He was probably just blinded by my beauty," I joked, flipping my hair dramatically as Emmett jokingly punched my shoulder.

"Let's face the facts Bella. You're not getting any younger or any less laugh lines or worry wrinkles for that matter," Emmett said, once again using the nickname that I'd had since the second week of baseball freshman year. The dimples that could make any woman, including myself, melt at just one glance.

I rolled my eyes at him before quickly retorting with something else.

"Hmm, alrighty then," I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully with my index finger before continuing. "Maybe I shouldn't be the only one to face the facts _Emmy_,"

"Your continuing usage of steroids is really starting to show from down under the table top, if you know what I mean. I always knew some balls were saggy, but Jesus Christ, if I see them practically dripping out of your sweat pants with your shriveled up dick right in-between the damn cul-de-sac, then you've gotta' take the hint that you've gone too far," I said, trying to sound as serious as I possibly could without breaking out into hysterical laughter at both of their faces.

Emmett just looked agitated whilst Jasper looked like he was about to wet his pants from trying to hold back all of his laughter.

_Thank you. Thank you very much_.

"_Oh_ man you're just gonna' take that? She just bagged on your package," Jasper said, finally letting loose and letting out a few loud laughs from his bulky looking abdomen.

Emmet slapped my dark wash, jean-clad knee, which caused me to yelp out loudly in pain.

"_**Ow!**_ You saggy balled ass!" I screamed out at him, knowing that we were the only ones home at the moment so we could all be as vulgar as we wanted.

Esme and Carlise were both at work at their resectable jobs; Carlisle being one of the most well-known and respected doctors in the small town of Forks at none other than Forks Hospital, and Esme being a professional interior designer for homes and whatnot.

And Edward.

Edward Anthony Cullen was whole other story.

**I'm a little rusty, I know aha. Sorry if there are any mistakes I haven't properly mapped out, I haven't done anything in a really long time. I cut this chapter in half because I didn't feel like putting 5,000 words of filler into one chapter.**

**Reviews really do push me to write faster. If you like this, and plan on reading more, why not review and tell me about it?**

**Thanks so much.**


	3. Chapter 2

**The Way We Are and the Way We Were Chapter Two**

It was almost as if Edward was the Fantasia to our Aladdin.

Our story involved genies and flying carpets and extremely long songs with cheesy dance numbers.

His story involved fireworks and violent waters. All of it completely silent.

Which was what Edward had been for the past three months.

Edward had recently turned 19.

Edward had recently dropped out of college and was now living at home until he figured out what he really wanted, which was obviously frowned upon by Carlisle and Esme who fully expected their son to attend college and finish things with flying colors and golden stars, just like he had his entire life.

Edward had recently lost his license because of a DUI he had received only three months prior to that current day.

And Edward had recently lost his long-time girlfriend, the girl he swore he was going to make his wife someday, to a brutal, horrendous, unsolved murder, seven and a half months ago.

Tanya Denali.

Edward. Edward. Edward.

Edward was just Edward. There's no other way to describe him.

I remembered the night that Edward had come home that day and explained the story of the new girl at school that no one could keep quiet about, him being one of them.  
He told us the story over the dinner Esme had made for everyone that night.

Edward was a sophomore in highschool, and Jasper, Emmett and I were all about to start our second year of college, (all three of us having us gone to the same college in Phoenix Arizona) and we had come home for winter break.

I remembered asking him if he liked her.

He told me he hadn't spoken more than a few words to her in study hall, and that was only when she had asked him where she could find the restroom.

I told him to step up to the plate and befriend the girl.

He got his father to stop at Charlie's house two days later at around six o'clock in the evening, around the same time that my pot-roast had finished cooking in the oven for dinner.

He had finally gotten the balls to speak to her, and they were both going bowling that Friday night at midnight with a few other people from Forks High School.

I had squeezed him until he asked to be let go. I remember how proud I was of him.

I honestly felt like a soccer mom at a little league game where her mini David Beckham scored his first ever goal.

Only this goal was getting the guts to ask out the new girl before some other bum decided to ask her out to dinner.

Their friendship had bloomed gracefully over the next two months, which involved Edward sending me countless emails while I was away at school, telling me about absolutely everything that had anything to do with the strawberry blonde beauty that I knew he was falling harder and harder for each day.

With every story of how she had bought him a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day, how she had started giving him hugs every time they made eye-contact in the halls, of how they had both ended up getting fooled by their friends who had given them both strict directions to meet them at the local diner for dinner Saturday night, but planned it so that none of them would show up except for Tanya and Edward, leaving them both to spend an entire evening together, alone.

Emmett continued to make fun of his younger brother behind his back at falling so hard for someone, while Jasper high-fived me for helping out the poor kid.

Spring rolled by, the three of us were back home for three weeks for the school wide break, and I finally met the infamous Tanya.

It was then why I knew why he was so head over heels for the girl.

A week or so after I returned to Arizona, I had gotten a frantic phone call from an eccentric fifteen-year-old.

They were finally going steady.

Carlisle and Esme couldn't be happier for their son.

And I couldn't be happier for the boy who had practically become my little brother over the years, especially during that year.

Tanya and Edward dated for about four years.

Part of the third being spent while they were both in college, both of them both choosing to attend Dartmouth together.

Before their four year anniversary, Edward came back home to Forks about a week before Tanya, since she had a few tests to make up at school according to him, to prepare for a romantic evening in the Cullen's large backyard

I'd helped him prepare by making cake, buying sparkling apple cider and buying a few dozen red roses.

Whatever I could do to help.

But that night, he seemed so jumpy and distracted, which was strange, even for Edward.

It scared me a little I must admit. Edward had always been on top of his game in any situation; calm and reserved, but right then it just seemed like a completely different Edward.

I, or anyone else for that matter could never ask him a simple question without him first answering with a, 'huh?' or a, 'what?' before he scrambled nervously to answer as fast as he could.

Carlisle simply thought that he was excited for her arrival.

I shrugged and smiled before agreeing, knowing that he was probably right.

We all got nervous sometimes right?

It happens to the best of us I guess...

The night of the big anniversary that everyone was excited for, (for some reason it seemed as if we were more excited than Edward) Edward had received a phone call from the Denali family.

Tanya was supposed to fly in from New Hampshire that night, and she hadn't.

She hadn't called either, with maybe of an excuse of a delayed or canceled flight.

Her family called her dorm advisers.

They hadn't seen her leave.

They checked her dorm.

She wasn't there.

The phoned her roommate who was currently riding the slopes of Aspen.

She hadn't seen her since she herself had left for vacation with her family.

The school checked her teacher's attendance records.

She hadn't been to any classes in about a week.

Edward waited in the backyard for hours, waiting for the love of his life to show up and to sweep her off of her feet.

She never showed.

He tried her cell phone for what seemed like thousands of times, as did her family.

And that was when the chaos began...

Edward had returned to Hanover in a haste to find his girlfriend.

He advised us not to come if we knew what was good for us.

Well, I wouldn't exactly say advised.

That would make it sound kind of like we had a little chat over tea and biscuits.

He had shoved my shoulders into a nearby wall, and practically barked at me, telling me to stay away.

If it weren't for Emmett standing nearby, Edward might have done a lot worse than simply bruise my shoulders for a few days.

And when I looked right into his once beautiful, forest green eyes, I didn't see a boy in love.

I saw a boy full of rage, and hate.

I saw a boy who looked like he wanted to get violent.

It was then when I knew that we had lost our fun, enthusiastic, loving Edward.

The Edward we all loved more than we had loved ourselves.

Then real search for Tanya Denali began.

The police searched absolutely everywhere, but not before ruling Tanya's disappearance as a kidnapping first, much to the protest of Tanya's family.

They mapped out every single place that Tanya would ever be.

They checked the airport security cameras in Hanover, each single one never catching a glimpse of Tanya at the airport.

She hadn't even gone to the airport.

The investigators searched her dorm, looking for anything that would maybe somehow solve the puzzle of where Tanya Denali may be.

They found absolutely nothing.

They had questioned each and every single person who knew Tanya, or had even heard of her, including her teachers, family, and of course Edward.

Edward's family knew that Edward was in no state of mind to be questioned about something so terrible and had come without warning.

It seemed like Edward couldn't believe that this was all happening, that the fact that he wasn't holding his girlfriend in his arms was simply just a dream he would soon wake up from.

If only it was.

Having the police questioning him was like putting salt on a fresh wound.

It hurt. It wasn't healthy. It wasn't right.

There was no way that Edward could be responsible for what had happened, and we all knew that if he himself knew anything, he'd be telling the detectives every last detail of it.

Carlisle had spent hours discussing this in his office one day when I'd gone in there to give him his dinner. I'd cooked that night, since for the first time for as long as I could remember, Esme hadn't cooked dinner. She was just up on her balcony that overlooked the forests in the backyard, crying endlessly.

But the investigators had to do what they had to do. And they did it, right in Edward's soon to be old dorm in and supervision by Edward's father Carlisle, who had flown down to Hanover earlier that week on leave from the hospital.

When Carlisle had come back with Edward, I knew that was it.

They had questioned Edward, and that was it. That just sealed the fucking deal.

Edward was gone. Edward was nothing but a lifeless zombie now.

His once beautifully pale skin had begun to look sickly alabaster white, making him look even more lifeless. He'd started losing weight, his hair began to fall out, and the muscles he'd once had, turned to nothing but skin and bone.

It was over for him, and we knew the only thing that would bring him back was Tanya's safe return. But after she hadn't reappeared for a month, we'd all tried our very best to keep hope that she was okay.

The disappearance of Tanya was all over the news. CNN, local news stations in towns we'd never even heard of and our town's local news station as well.

It was becoming more and more real that the girl we'd all loved was gone, and was probably never coming back.

Three months after an intense investigation, the police had made a new break in the case, calling Carlisle themselves to inform him of the new evidence found.

They had declared the case a homicide after finding Tanya's silver Jetta on top of a random business building, a few towns away from her dorm, with the inside of the trunk covered in her blood and torn pieces of her hair.

They'd found the car, but not the strawberry blonde who held the key to Edward's broken heart.

We all had tried talking with Edward what seemed like millions of times during the investigation, but he simply shut us out during the first few months of Tanya's search, locking himself for hours inside of his childhood bedroom, going hours without ever leaving.

It was scaring us all.

So for the next few months, our lives turned into absolute hell.  
It seemed like all our lives had begun to revolve around nothing but thoughts of Tanya hopefully being alive, and whether or not Edward was okay.

Whether or not Edward would be able to make it through this.

I was soon pulled out of my thoughts by a laughing Emmett who had put his thick, muscular arm around my shoulders. I arched my eyebrow at him.

"What?" I said dumbly looking at him as he looked down at me with a large smirk on his face, his adorable dimples showing on his cheeks giving me embarrassing butterflies.

"You make so many funny faces when you're thinking too hard, Belly," he laughed, making me smile and roll my eyes at him. He leaned down and kissed my temple lovingly, making me smile even bigger.

"What's on your mind?" asked Jasper from the other side of me as I laid my head on Emmett's large shoulder. Jasper ran his hands through his dirty blonde locks as his beautiful cerulean eyes scanned my face for any type of answers.

The only bad part about being friends with Emmett and Jasper was that they always knew when I was thinking really hard about something, or something big was on my mind. It was impossible to ever hide anything from them, and I was okay with that.

I shrugged my shoulders as Emmett grabbed the remote and pressed the black button to turn down the volume on the television.

"I was just thinking...," I said playing with the hem of my black v-neck t-shirt, taking a deep breath before telling them what was on my mind, knowing I wouldn't get scolded for it, or yelled at for still thinking about something we'd all finally just been able to overcome.

We'd let everything that had happened swallow us all whole and almost destroy all of our lives, but we were all strong enough to keep living our lives.

We hadn't moved on per say, but we just didn't let our lives stop just because someone who had become part of this family was gone. We knew that Tanya would never want things to be like that. Ever.

She'd want Edward to be able to live his life, not sit in his old bedroom drinking and smoking his problems away.

We never kept secrets, Emmett, Jasper and I; and we liked it that way. It just, felt good to always be able to tell someone something without ever having to hold things back because you wanted to pretend something hadn't happened. That just wasn't who we were.

"About?" Jasper asked as he leaned his head over into my lap with a small smirk on his face, which was basically him asking me to play with his locks of hair that were in need of a slight trim.

I smiled lightly as I twirled my fingers into the locks of hair gently, knowing exactly what relaxed Jasper. I'd done this enough back at school during finals week to know how he liked me to play with his hair.

"About Tanya and things," I said quietly, even though I knew that I wasn't wrong for still thinking about that dark portion of all of our lives.

Emmett's eyes found mine slowly, looking at me with a deep stare that made me shiver. He licked his lower lip before opening his mouth to speak.

"Things are alright now. Not as good as they used to be, but not as bad as they were," he said as I looked down at Jasper's sun kissed face. He was staring off into space, probably thinking the same things that I had been thinking about earlier.

I sighed deeply. "Do you guys think Edward will ever be who he used to be?"

Emmett pursed his lips and shrugged his broad shoulders, moving my head around slightly as he did so. "The Doc's got him on sleeping pills, so at least he's getting some shut-eye. Ma' just doesn't know about that bottle of Cuervo and the bag of J's he keeps under his bed," Emmett said quietly as his arm tightened around my shoulders. I felt my stomach flip at the thought of the boy I'd known for years, sitting up on his bed lighting up joints of Marijuana and taking large sips of tequila.

"He shouldn't be mixing those together," Jasper said from my lap, finally entering the conversation.

I ran my finger along the indents in Emmett's smooth face, making his dimples contract lightly from underneath my fingertip.

"I just hope he's as smart as he used to be," Emmett said as he reached for my hand before raising it up to his lips. I smiled appreciatively at his comfort and affection towards me.

While all of our affection towards each other seemed a bit, too affectionate, we were all friends, and just friends at that.

"I know he is. He just needs a little more time to make it through this," Jasper said looking up at Emmett who had taken to playing with my short, stubby fingers.

I remembered in middle school, people got kicks out of calling them "pigs in a blanket". Apparently my baby fat had only been burned away from my stomach and legs, and not my fingers.

"Has Carlisle thought of anything else to do?" I asked curiously, still hoping that Edward's life wouldn't continue to drag out like this.

"I think he's thinkin' about trying therapy again, or maybe find him some different meds. Man's got too much on his plate," Emmett answered, making me cringe lightly as I thought about what Carlisle had told me the day after he had tried to take Edward to therapy.

Edward had thrown a complete tantrum at the office; throwing things around, hitting and kicking furniture, spitting in the face of Carlisle's old colleague who'd taken the time out of her busy week to try and treat Edward.

I sighed once again, making Emmett lean down and bite my shoulder lightly, making me smile lightly.

"I just wish Edward would go back to the way he used to be," I said longingly, scolding myself mentally at how childish and slightly selfish I sounded.

"Me too," Jasper said reaching up to rub his hand up and down my arm, but from the way he was laying down, the way his hand was on my arm was a bit awkwardly placed.

Emmett nodded his head in agreement, obviously longing for the younger brother who he used to have, and not the zombie who was stoned out of his mind upstairs.

Then, out of nowhere, we heard the front door slam loudly, making me jump and Emmett cringe. I heard the windows around us shake violently to the point where I thought they would break.

Emmett turned towards the front door, and I watched his face fall like a hammer does on a nail.

I had a good idea of who it was, but I was too scared to look up from my slumped form on the comfortable couch.

I hadn't even heard the door open for fuck's sake.

"Shit," Jasper whispered to himself, obviously knowing who it was already.

I pulled my lower lip between my teeth and narrowed my eyes, thinking about everything that we had all said

"Did he hear all that?" I asked to no one in particular, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

I hadn't spoken to Edward since the night he had slammed my shoulders into that wall those few months ago. I didn't want him angry at me once again.

Emmett looked at me with his blank face.

"Yeah. Yeah he did."

**Wooo it's been a few days, and writing this story has been so much fun to write !! It's okay that pretty much no one has read it, I think it's more of a personal thing of me finally getting the guts to post something and not be too afraid. But I feel like my writing has changed so much since my other stories posted on Mibba, and I'm personally really proud of this chapter. But please, if you read my story, please Review. I'd like to know who is nice enough to take time out of their day to read my story. It also pushes me to write as well, and it just boosts my self esteem. So please review.**

**Next chapter out soon !**


	4. Chapter 3

**I've never been more digusted by something I've written before, in my life. This is extremely terrible, and I apologize for wasting your time with this. I intended on this kind of where the story starts to pick up. A lot. But obviously that doesn't happen. Sorry again.**

**Mild sexual content later on in chapter.**

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**The Way We Are and the Way We Were Chapter Three**

"Emmett, stop being such a baby."

"Lay off my donk, woman, that's private property."

"Okay, am I the only one who remembers you mooning me every morning back at the dorms? I've touched, _and_ seen your donk more than you have."

"Stop it! Don't make me call the Rape Crisis Center on your ass."

"Come on, I just need to test something out."

"Dude, Jazz, get this crazy bitch off my trunk."

"Your being such a baby, just let me touch it."

"Oh **shit** that felt good."

"Eww, you freak!"

"Wait no, do that again!"

I let out a loud squeal as Emmett began to chase me around the Cullen's large kitchen, making Jasper, who was perched up on the counter of the kitchen, shake his head with a smile on his face.

"You guys are freaks," he muttered under his breath, taking a sip of alcohol from the last bottle of Smirnoff Ice.

"I just wanted to see if your butt was as hard as last year!" I giggled as Emmett picked me up from behind and began swinging me around like I was a damn rag doll.

"Nah, I think ya' just wanted to feel this hot ass," he joked kissing my head as I lightly kicked his shin with the back of my heel.

The feeling of being spun around repeatedly was beginning to make my stomach churn in a way that I knew wouldn't be good for either of us if he continued to spin me around.

Meaning they were both about to see the chocolate muffin I'd had for breakfast.

"Put me down, I've been drinking! I'm gonna' barf," I said trying to hold back a laugh (and my breakfast) as Emmett continued to swing me around. He let out a loud bark of ferocious laughter as he slowly began swinging me lower and lower to the linoleum floor, making me giggle as he slowly placed me on my back onto the floor.

Obviously we had gotten bored with the day old football game, so we decided to start cooking dinner, knowing Esme would be a little tired when she got home. She had recently started working again at the business she herself owned, and came home worn out most nights, but never worn out enough to not cook everyone a home cooked meal.

But after drinking beer and Smirnoff's for the past two hours, all I really felt like doing was getting even more drunk to the point where I'd be able to forget what had happened earlier that afternoon.

_And maybe be able to forget the sounds of Edward's heavy footsteps stomping up the stairs angrily_.

"You ass, I can't even see straight now," I muttered as I placed my arm over my eyes in hopes of blocking out the spinning room that was making me feel sicker and sicker to my stomach.

"I wonder what the chief would think if he saw his little alcoholic right now," Jasper said with a slight laugh, taking yet another swig from the foggy, white bottle that was just about half empty.

I laughed at that.

My father, Charlie didn't exactly approve of me drinking at all, ever since the night I had turned 21. Emmett and Jasper had decided to take me out drinking for my big day, and it was that night when I discovered how much I liked my vodka with lime. When I'd gotten home around 3:00 in the morning, still wasted, the chief himself had been waiting up for me, wearing his flannel robe and a disappointed frown that made me feel even more nauseous.

So nauseous that Charlie ended up having to throw that robe away, due to never being able to get the smell of my vomit out of it. It was a night to remember, and _boy_ did I remember it.

Surprisingly.

"I'm not an alcoholic," I giggled from the floor, not even bothering to pick my head up from the cold, hard floor. "I like my alcohol, not a big deal."

Jasper shook his head once again as I slowly raised myself up with both hands bracing my upper body weight.

"I still have no idea what to make tonight," Emmett groaned from behind me. I slowly turned around, and when I did, the sight of Emmett bending over completely in front of the large, stainless steel refrigerator was laid out before me. I rolled my eyes before I quickly stood up, despite how heavy my head felt at the moment.

"Move over," I grumbled as I walked the few steps towards his muscular form, only before pushing him out of my way to peer inside of the large refrigerator, looking for anything that we could prepare for dinner that night.

My eyes made contact with a large box of six large, thick steaks. I sighed before pulling out the already defrosted meat from the refrigerator.

"I guess we can grill these up, unless Esme was planning on using these for something else," I shrugged as I pulled them out to hand them to Emmett. He looked at the red box with pursed lips before nodding his head.

"Yeah, this'll be good," he said before throwing them up onto the counter where Jasper was still sitting.

When Emmett, Jasper and I had first started college, I was pretty much the only one who really knew my way around a kitchen. Emmett and Jasper could barely use a microwave during our college years, let alone actually prepare an edible meal. I remember it had been Valentine's Day, and I'd recently gotten dumped by an old boyfriend whom I'd met in Phoenix during my stay there, and to cheer me up, they decided to cook my dinner in my apartment. I remembered I'd just come home from a long day of classes, ready to just eat an entire can of chocolate chip frosting and relax, but instead came home to the strong stench of burning food and the obnoxious sound of my smoke detector going off.

You'd think that I would be practically fuming at the sight of black smoke inside of my shoe box of an apartment, ready to kill both of my best friends for almost burning down my apartment and making an already bad week even worse, but the sight of Emmett wearing an apron with a woman's body wearing a stringy bikini painted on the front kind of made up for it.

We'd all had a good laugh and ordered Chinese food after we all cleaned up the mess they'd made, and the following week, I began their cooking lessons in their apartment. I figured that if one of our apartments had to burn down during failed experiments, it'd be theirs.

Soon enough, Jasper and Emmett had finally gotten the hang of cooking, and were cooking dinner at their apartment every night for us all, until I could finally trust them to cook in my own miniscule kitchen one night. They were quick learners and actually pretty good cooks once they finally knew the right way to do things.

Obviously Emmett, Jasper and I didn't live together in the same apartment or in the dorms anymore. (We'd graduated a while back and were currently spending the summer with our families in Washington) All of our parents decided that it wouldn't exactly be the most appropriate thing for us all to be living together under the same roof, so they helped us out a little with expenses during the first few months at our apartments; me living alone having the occasional drunken hookup, and Jasper and Emmett in their own little man cave. We'd tried living in the dorms during the first few months with roommates, but the dorms at Phoenix University weren't exactly of our liking. I'd gotten the typical insane roommate who enjoyed using my laptop and eating all of my low fat cottage cheese when I wasn't around, and Jasper and Emmett ended up getting roommates who weren't each other, despite the fact that they both had put in requests to be assigned the same room together.

They thought it was just because someone was out to get them. I thought it was because they'd noticed how tight Jasper's jeans were the day he came into the dorm offices.

I snorted at the thought as I re-opened the refrigerator door Emmett had just slammed shut, bending over slightly in search of something that I could possibly turn into a nice, green salad for dinner.

"Where are all the greens?" I mumbled quietly to myself as I bent down a little bit more, trying my best to peer down into the very bottom shelf in the refrigerator that was blowing its cold air against my face and chest. Then, out of nowhere, I felt a sharp slap against my bottom, making me yelp out in pain loudly.

"Ow ! _Ow!_! What the _fuck_ was that!?" I screamed loudly and obnoxiously, my voice getting a bit pitchier than I preferred. I was starting to sound the same way Emmett did during our freshman year of high school. You'd never guess that a guy with a voice as deep as Emmett's once had the most girlish voice I'd ever heard in my life.

I quickly turned around, immediately making eye contact with a beautiful pair of baby blues that made my heart beat just a little bit faster than normal. His handsome, tan face hosting a smirk that made my cheeks turns red, even after all these years.

Jasper.

"I just thought I'd return the favor for Emmett," he said shrugging innocently, like the terrible pain shooting through my bottom meant nothing to him. His cocky smirk seemed to just get bigger and bigger.

_That asshole slapped __**hard**_.

"You douche, that _hurt_!" I squealed charging towards him, laughing as we took a few steps back before I jumped on him, making him laugh as well.

"I couldn't help myself, it was just so... _out there_. Did you end up buying one of those Brazilian Butt Booster tapes?" he asked jokingly, not even falling back like I had expected him to do after I had pounced on him. He simply placed his hands on my love handles and lowered my sock clad feet to the ground safely.

I rolled my eyes at his stupid jab at my slowly growing rear end only before trying to stop my cheeks from heating up.

_It's Firm and Tighten Your Butt By Thursday, thank you very much_.

Sure I said I said I wasn't one to tell lies or hide things from my best friends, but that was just one of those things that are just meant to stay private... And under my bed.

Emmett laughed at that as he began placing the raw flanks of stank on a perfectly white, porcelain tray, getting them ready grilling. "Nice one," he muttered shaking his head smiling as he stood in front of the counter.

I slapped Jasper's shoulder, making him laugh even harder at my poor attempt at hurting him. He didn't even wince.

He was even wearing a white wife-beater that had his sun kissed, large upper arms completely exposed and that big idiot hadn't even cringed. He just laughed and sent me a quick wink that made my stomach cart-wheel a bit.

"Just shut it and help me make a salad," I grumbled under my breath as I listened to Emmett open and close cabinets before I turned back towards the stainless steel refrigerator that had started beeping due to being left open for more than a minute.

"So Belly, tell me about that guy you met in Jacksonville again, I need me a good laugh right about now," Emmett said as he reached into the cabinet next to the sink, bringing out a small plastic bottle full of meat tenderizer.

I laughed as my thoughts wandered to what had gone down during my visit to Florida to see my mother Renee and my step-father Phil, for Christmas, despite how guilty I felt about leaving my culinary-challenged father all alone for the holiday.

Lately, Renee had been completely obsessed with the fact that I was 23 years old and still single. In her head, I was a woman who sat at home alone on Saturdays sipping Jack Daniels and reading Danielle Steele books until I passed out in the late evening, and not the strong independent woman that I knew I was. She thought that my ignorance with relationships at the moment was going to screw me over in life, and I would end up dying alone with nothing but empty bottles of alcohol and torn pages from romance novels. So she meddled with anything she could possibly get her hands on; going as far as buying me an eHarmony account and sending messages to all of the strangers the stupid website had set me up with.

This particular Christmas, Renee had hired a guy around my age, Chris, to clean out the pool during the winter since the pool's automatic pool filter had broken due to swallowing all of the leaves that the winter weather had knocked into the clear chlorine water of the pool.

Which was kind of what you get when you get your professional baseball player of a husband to get a pool built right underneath one of the biggest trees in their backyard.

My first day there, I'd made the mistake of walking outside to the backyard with a carton of old, moldy milk in my hands on afternoon, in search of Renee to tell her how disgusting it was that she still had it. And that was essentially when my, "Christmas Hell' in Jacksonville began.

My mother's face brightened the same way a child's does on Christmas day when they realize how many presents they received for the holiday, and I could literally see the ideas floating around inside of her busy little head.

Chris certainly wasn't awful looking at all. From what my mother said, all the girls in the neighborhood enjoyed swooning over the 24 year old, dark haired man, and I couldn't blame them.

While he was extremely nervous around me, Chris was a genuinely sweet and a very intelligent person. He was an elementary school substitute who'd recently gotten his teaching degree, loved kids, liked to do extremely manly things like mountain climbing and running up and down beaches without a shirt on, (I wasn't complaining) things like that. Chris was a normal guy, he was a lot of fun to be around, and at first I was honestly glad that my mother had set us up together during my two week stay in Florida.

We'd first gone out to dinner at a nice restaurant, and that was a bit awkward at first, but things eventually picked up later on in the evening. He'd made jokes, told me stories about substituting for high school students who thought he was ignorant enough to believe that the students were allowed to use their cell phones during class, and just showed me what type of good guy he really was.

During the first week of my stay in Florida, Chris and I had spent loads of time together; infact I'd spent more time with Chris than I'd spent with Renee and Phil during that first week. Renee obviously didn't mind, she was just happy that I was spending time with someone of the opposite sex and not just up in the guest room, watching Lifetime movies and eating Christmas cookies until I could no longer fit into the skinny jeans Phil bought me.

The atmosphere around Chris was always nice and refreshing. He was so easy going, wasn't too speculating about things, and that was the type of guy I liked. I _liked_ Chris. We'd done a little harmless flirting, nothing too bad. The most the poor guy did at first was breathe down my neck deeply once when he hugged me goodbye after a long day at the beach together.

Things changed with that guy as drastically as they could possibly could.

That Christmas Eve, Chris had taken me to the movie theater for a romantic comedy and overly buttered popcorn after hearing that I was home alone after Renee and Phil had gone to a Christmas party at a friend's house. Going to the movies seemed fun, so I agreed. The conversation before the movie started was easy and light; nothing too important.

That was until we made it to the middle of the movie. The fidgeting and quiet whimpers he thought I couldn't hear began.

"That guy was fucking bonkers," I said shaking my head, trying not to think about everything that had happened that night with him as I grabbed a large head of lettuce from the refrigerator, glancing back over at Emmett who was sprinkling different types of spices and seasonings over the steaks, making me smile.

_He's learned __**damn**__ well_.

Emmett and Jasper's laughs echoed throughout the kitchen, ringing in my ear and making me cringe a bit before smiling even bigger.

Jasper and Emmett both knew the story quite well; they just enjoyed hearing it whenever they needed something to lift up their spirits a bit.

Chris's obvious fear of sex was just that.

I squatted down in front of the drawers before opening one of them up to pull out a cutting board.

"I still can't believe this guy started crying," Jasper laughed loudly, lightly throwing a knife onto the counter for me to begin cutting the lettuce, only before he went back over to the refrigerator to pull out more items to prepare a salad.

I rolled my eyes before laughing as well.

Having Chris run out of my bedroom butt naked was definitely one of the most funny, and frightening experiences of my life.

"No, not crying, he was like, sobbing and I couldn't get him to stop," I giggled as I took the lettuce over to the sink to rinse, looking back over at Emmett who was now rubbing the spices into the raw meat with his large hands, using his thick fingers to rub it a bit rougher. I turned on the bronze colored sink and let the cold water run over the leafy green lettuce, in hopes to rinse the bacteria and dirt away.

"You don't run away when someone puts a vagina in your face! You bang it, then call in sick to work, then bang it again," Jasper said, making Emmett and I almost topple over in violent laughter. I seriously thought I was going to cry from laughing so hard at the slightly vulgar joke.

Chris _did_ cry when he and I had gone up to the room I was staying in at Renee and Phil's house, as strange as that sounds. He'd brought me home after a movie full of odd fidgeting throughout the whole film and strange looks at each other in the dark. He'd gotten out of the car and walked me to the front door, still looking a bit flushed and flustered as I continued to peer at him worriedly. I'd asked if he was okay, that if he needed something to drink or something, and the next thing I knew, my back was pressed up against the red wooden door of the house, and Chris's lips were trying to work themselves in-between my own.

As bad as it sounds, I knew that Chris and I would never end up having something special between us. I honestly couldn't see us having a life together with children or anything like that. I just couldn't see Chris and I's relationship going any further than a heated hook-up. And I was okay with that. I was okay with getting it on with a school teacher.

So I kissed him right back, working my bare lips into his as he continued to kiss me roughly. His cold, sweaty hands found the sides of my face as he we continued to kiss, making the cold air surrounding us seem a bit less uncomfortable.

Our lips broke away from each other's, and like the horny woman I was, I leaned forward and licked my tongue up his open lips, making a visible shiver go through him.

His face was red as I felt the cold nip at my now bare face and chest, finally making me speak up.

I asked him to come upstairs with me. He agreed.

Once up in the forest green colored room with crème colored bedding, I asked him to rip my clothes off.

He agreed.

Soon enough we were under my comforter with me on top of his cold, sweating body, rubbing ourselves onto each other in a heated craze to just get closer to each other. His grunts of pleasure only drove me to get the little show on the road.

He said something about not having a condom. I replied with something about not needing one. He smirked before leaning up to kiss me once again, letting his obviously skilled tongue slip inside my willing mouth. I remember giggling into his mouth, telling him to take it easy; how we had all night to do this. He leaned back down onto my bed as I ran my finger over his dark eyebrows, and over his lip, making him open up his mouth so I could slip it inside. I giggled once again at the sexual, ticklish feeling that was now running through my body at the feeling of his tongue skimming the length of my index finger.

Soon enough, I was pushed onto my back with an impressively sized man-hood at my entrance, and a beautiful, gasping man above me.

I saw it in his face then.

Chris _snapped_.

I felt his body begin to shake from on top of my naked one, making me lean over to the bedside table to turn on the lamp next to me. As the light flooded the room, I finally saw how scared he looked.

His blue eyes stared into mine, making me look away uncomfortably before speaking up.

I asked what was wrong, and that's when the water works and violent sobs that racked his entire body began; or the "Freakout" as I had come to call it. He fell onto the bed next to me as he put his head into his hands, making the sounds of his hiccups a little quieter, but not enough so that I couldn't hear them. I stared at him with wide eyes; half of me wanting to know what the hell was wrong with him, and the other wanting him to leave already.

I'd never had a man begin crying before slipping himself inside of me, so that was definitely a story to tell my grandkids someday.

I remember asking him what was wrong, and what I'd done, but all I got out of him was snot falling out of the openings in his laced fingers and repeated mumbles of "I'm sorry".

I reached over to where he had thrown my purple shirt with the ruffles in a haste to get me naked and put it back on quickly, only before reaching under the covers to grab for my green cotton panties.

His tan back was facing me, giving me the slight urge to touch him, but I was too scared.

I thought that if I were to touch him, he would want to get violent and hurt me or something. So I just stuck with telling him that it was okay and whatnot; I would do anything just to get the guy to shut up.

I said his name as I slipped them back on, and that was it.

Chris quickly jumped out of the queen sized bed, still completely naked as he threw the thick comforter off of him, picked up his clothes that were a dark heap in the floor, and sprinted out of the room. Still crying.

So he left me there.

Aroused. Still a little naked. My pride a little hurt.

I only saw Chris once after that, and that was to tell Renee that he wasn't going to be able to clean out the pool anymore. He didn't even glance at me, let alone give me an explanation as to why he bitched out and ran out of the room that night.

I was okay with never seeing him again. Even now I still don't know what I did to set Chris off.

I'm okay with that as well.

"I'm never going to get tired of that damn story," Emmett laughed, wiping his hands with the back of his eyes as I rubbed my wet hands over my jeans, finishing up telling the last, embarrassing bit of the story.

"I noticed," I laughed lightly, making Emmett smirk as I grabbed the knife to begin chopping the lettuce. Jasper began chopping up the tomatoes, making me smile lightly at his help.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Jasper, Emmett and I continued to prepare different things for dinner, all of us apart of a friendly conversation that included the regular things like the always fun teasing and joking.

While we weren't ones to push serious, important things to the backs of our minds and pretend they didn't exist, Emmett, Jasper and I never really had those deep, overly serious times between us. Our lives were easy going. And I loved it that way.

I never thought that those last minutes would be the last that anything at all would be easy going between us.

Everything was about to change in the worst way possible.

_Everything_.

In the middle of Jasper's story of how he and his latest fling broke things off, for good this time, the sound of Emmett's ringtone filled the kitchen, making us both turn towards him.

He dropped the lemon slice that he was rubbing on the last steak that was almost ready for grilling as a large smirk formed on his face.

I felt my heart flutter in happiness at how happy he looked right then. He looked at me, and if it was possible, he smiled even bigger.

We both knew _exactly_ who was calling.

"Oh shit," Emmett mumbled under his breath as he quickly ran towards the sink to wash his hands quickly, obviously trying to wash the juices from the raw meat away from his hands so that he wouldn't get it all over his expensive cell phone.

I laughed as I tossed the last bit of chopped lettuce into the large bowl full of different vegetables. The ring of the cell phone continued as Jasper and I both watched him in amusement as Emmett scrubbed his hands roughly with the thick dish soap.

"Em, calm down, Rose can wait," Jasper laughed throwing a cucumber into the bowl.

Emmett shot a sharp glare at him before quickly washing away the last bit of soap.

"Fuck you, I've been waiting all day for her to call," he said quickly turning off the water and grabbing a stray towel that was on the counter and quickly wiped his hands on it.

His phone ceased it's ringing, make his shoulders slump and I watched his face fall a bit. The call had gone to voicemail.

"Fuck, dammet," Emmett swore, digging into his back pocket for his cell-phone before quickly pulling it out and flipping it open.

I sighed as I let my head fall onto Jasper's shoulder, making him nudge his hip into mine lightly.

"I've been waiting all fucking day for her to call, and when she does, I miss it," Emmett groaned before leaning up his weight against the counter.

"Just call back, Em, it's not a big deal. Just say you were taking a crap," I joked, shrugging my shoulders making Jasper scoff and Emmett stand up so that he could lightly kick my bottom.

"Alright, I'm goin' out to the yard. Go downstairs and get some Patron will you?" Emmett asked flipping open his cell phone, obviously so that he could call back the girl whom he'd been swooning over for the past few weeks we'd been back in Washington.

"Thatta' girl!" I yelled, running after him slightly so that I could smack his muscular bottom. That made him laugh as he continued his walk towards the back of the house that led to the sliding door of the backyard.

Jasper shook his head as I turned back around towards him.

"You better get that Patron, he's gonna' need it after that," he said, obviously talking about how Emmett would end up being on the phone with Rosalie Hale for the next half hour talking about nothing Emmett honestly cared about.

All Emmett cared about was Rosalie, and Jasper and I could both see that.

Seeing Emmett walking out of the kitchen that late afternoon was the last time I saw Emmett for a long time.

I just wish I knew that, so that the last thing I had told him was something that didn't degrade his gender.

I nodded and smiled at him before turning around in the direction of the door that led to the basement.

On the other side of the house.

"Don't miss me too much," I smirked over my shoulder, earning a scoff from Jasper as I walked out of the kitchen.

Only a few seconds later was I in front of the door that led to the basement that would destroy my life forever.

If I'd known how much that basement would ruin everything, then I would've run out of the Cullen home, and never come back.

That basement changed everything that I ever knew about my life.

It changed _everything_.

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**Woo almost 5,000 words here! Sorry it took so long for this one, it was a hard week for me. It means a lot to me that you'd read this. Oh, and that whole butt grabbing thing actually happened. I almost got suspended for it too.**

**So yeah, why not leave me a review on this? It'd mean the absolute world to me if everyone who reads this left me a review. It pushes me a lot to write, and just makes me feel a lot better about posting my writing. So please please please review this. Your thoughts mean a lot to me. **

**Next update up soon. Things get crazy in the next one.**


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